Solar largely survives Trump’s savage budget
Despite his bluster about huge cuts to renewable energy programs, the budget deal negotiated last week not only minimizes cuts to those programs, it actually increases money for research into the next critical technology for solar – battery storage.
Dominion to add 990 MW of solar PV over the next five years
The utility cites the falling cost of utility-scale solar for the expanded role, and the large majority of solar plants will be located in North Carolina.
Report: Near-total renewable energy systems cheaper than gas in 2030 (w/ chart)
A report released last week by Climate Policy Initiative stresses flexibility and shows how energy storage and limited gas generation can support a power system dominated by renewables at a lower cost than conventional generation.
Trump Admin fires first shots in its new War on Science
Reports say the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy is under siege by the Department of Energy, with funds frozen and officials refusing to tell the researchers why. Should the scientists at NREL and Sunshot be nervous?
Spruce still hemorrhaging staff
More senior staff are leaving, and it remains unclear whether a sale of the solar and efficiency finance provider is on the table.
California reopens energy storage subsidies under SGIP (with chart)
The popular California Public Utilities Commission program will start receiving applications today for distributed energy projects that incorporate energy storage.
BREAKING: HelioPower files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The case, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada, shows the California installer has liabilities of up to $10 million, owed to up to 5,000 creditors.
“Red state” utilities populate the top 10 lists for solar
SEPA’s annual utility list shows utilities in North Carolina, Iowa and Utah among the top 3 in its lists for solar installed on an absolute and per-customer basis. The organization also published new lists of the top utilities for storage deployment.
Out of Sungevity’s ashes, Solar Spectrum will rise using its assets and employees
The wind down of the former fifth-largest residential solar installer continues as its new owner purchases some of its contracts and promises to hire “a substantial majority” of the bankrupt company’s employees.
Wacker says market environment for polysilicon is difficult
The German chemical company has said in its preliminary results for the first quarter of this year that polysilicon prices dropped significantly over the past weeks. Overall, the company expects to see its profits grow in 2017.
